Joint Model-independent Constraints on the Post-Newtonian Parameter and Cosmic Curvature from Galaxy-scale Strong Lensing, SNe Ia, BAO, and Cosmic Chronometers
Abstract
This investigation aims to test the validity of general relativity (GR) on kiloparsec scales via galaxy-scale strong gravitational lensing (SGL) combined with multiple cosmological probes. To circumvent the circularity problem induced by the presumption of a cosmological model based on GR, we apply the distance sum rule in the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric to constrain the post-Newtonian parameter gamma PPN and spatial curvature Omega k independently of any cosmological model. The study introduces two methodological improvements: (i) parameterizing the dark-energy evolution factor with second-order Chebyshev orthogonal polynomials, which ensures uniformly high convergence across the full redshift baseline while retaining Omega k as an explicit free parameter; (ii) extending the original two-probe configuration (SGL + Type Ia supernovae) to a four-probe joint analysis that includes baryon acoustic oscillations and cosmic chronometers. Our results show that gamma PPN = 1.119 (+0.072/-0.072) and Omega k = 0.101 (+0.077/-0.076) at 68% confidence. The gamma PPN value is consistent with the GR prediction of unity at 1.7 sigma, while Omega k favors a mildly open universe, with flatness consistent at 2 sigma. Taking model-independent constraints as a benchmark, we quantify the systematic shift in gamma PPN induced by eight representative dark energy models, and find that all offsets are negligible, well below the baseline 1 sigma uncertainty, with no significant bias at current precision. These results confirm that conventional strong-lensing gravity tests introduce no measurable systematic bias, validating our model-independent framework.
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BibTeX
@misc{zheng2026joint,
title = {{Joint Model-independent Constraints on the Post-Newtonian Parameter and Cosmic Curvature from Galaxy-scale Strong Lensing, SNe Ia, BAO, and Cosmic Chronometers}},
author = {Fu-you Zheng and Xiao-jun Gao and Hou-bing Tang and Wei Xiang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.29377},
eprint = {2609.29377},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.29377},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Joint Model-independent Constraints on the Post-Newtonian Parameter and Cosmic Curvature from Galaxy-scale Strong Lensing, SNe Ia, BAO, and Cosmic Chronometers
AU - Fu-you Zheng
AU - Xiao-jun Gao
AU - Hou-bing Tang
AU - Wei Xiang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.29377
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.29377
AB - This investigation aims to test the validity of general relativity (GR) on kiloparsec scales via galaxy-scale strong gravitational lensing (SGL) combined with multiple cosmological probes. To circumvent the circularity problem induced by the presumption of a cosmological model based on GR, we apply the distance sum rule in the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric to constrain the post-Newtonian parameter gamma PPN and spatial curvature Omega k independently of any cosmological model. The study introduces two methodological improvements: (i) parameterizing the dark-energy evolution factor with second-order Chebyshev orthogonal polynomials, which ensures uniformly high convergence across the full redshift baseline while retaining Omega k as an explicit free parameter; (ii) extending the original two-probe configuration (SGL + Type Ia supernovae) to a four-probe joint analysis that includes baryon acoustic oscillations and cosmic chronometers. Our results show that gamma PPN = 1.119 (+0.072/-0.072) and Omega k = 0.101 (+0.077/-0.076) at 68% confidence. The gamma PPN value is consistent with the GR prediction of unity at 1.7 sigma, while Omega k favors a mildly open universe, with flatness consistent at 2 sigma. Taking model-independent constraints as a benchmark, we quantify the systematic shift in gamma PPN induced by eight representative dark energy models, and find that all offsets are negligible, well below the baseline 1 sigma uncertainty, with no significant bias at current precision. These results confirm that conventional strong-lensing gravity tests introduce no measurable systematic bias, validating our model-independent framework.
ER -